by Michael Thompson
In 2018, Colorado lawmakers unanimously passed a law designed to relieve overcrowded state prisons. It was set to trigger whenever the total vacancy rate for state prison beds drops below 2% for more than 30 days. That happened in August 2025, yet the law has …
by Michael Thompson
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has released a new report describing a two-year investigation into the endemic culture of violence and abuse in Florida prisons, especially that of the Gulf Correctional Institution (“Gulf”) in the Panhandle region. While Gulf is likely the worst case, …
by Michael Thompson
Officials at the McPherson Unit in the Arkansas Department of Corrections turned a blind eye as Chaplain Kenneth DeWitt sexually abused several prisoners for years. The chaplain has since pled guilty to sexual assault in the third degree for 50 counts, for which he was …
by Michael Thompson
Prospective mental health patients struggle to find beds in psychiatric hospitals across the nation. Most mental health hospitals are short-staffed and turn away patients who battle to find treatment options. The hospitals have too few beds and the ones they have are increasingly consumed by …
by Michael Thompson
Norberto Torres spent three months confined in administrative segregation under harsh, filthy conditions because officials in his Illinois prison believed him to be engaged in gang activity. He sued, arguing that officials failed to provide him constitutional safeguards. In a ruling on October 17, 2025, …
by Michael Thompson
Statistics provided by the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) show that 39 people died in state prisons in 2024. The annual death rate rose during the COVID-19 pandemic and has stayed high since. And while the DOC has been required since 2021 to report when …
by Michael Thompson
The Journal of General Internal Medicine recently published an open access study that looked at health conditions for people in Minnesota who had recently experienced homelessness or incarceration and compared them to the state’s general adult population.
The study was expansive. It examined the …
by Michael Thompson
President Donald Trump (R) signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025. The tax spending bill was passed along party lines and is so massive, that it is likely only a few lawmakers read it through before voting. Resting within the bill were …
by Michael Thompson
As reported in PLN, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had postponed a 2024 rule poised to reduce the financial burden for incarcerated people throughout the country. [See: PLN, Aug. 2025, p. 19] The June 30, 2025 pause was followed …
by Michael Thompson
Jin Woo Park was a prisoner of the State of California at the Corcoran State Prison when he hired Michael L. Guisti to file his petition of habeas corpus in both state and, if necessary, federal courts. Despite accepting the $35,000 contract, Guisti failed to …
